Thoughts about God and Jesus

I'm intrigued by the scriptures I've read.  Romans 8 being the passage targeted in my thoughts, I think I may understand the trinity ever so slightly more.  Let me paint the background and then fill in the highlights.

"The Lord brings death and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and raises up.  The Lord sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.  He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; He seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor.  For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; on them He has set the world." 1 Samuel 2:6-8

So God is in complete control.  How many times I have heard this and understood that God is in control.  Or did I?  Did I really understand and comprehend?  Or did I get arrogant and say, "I already know this stuff.  Why do I have to read this again?"  Deep down, I assumed that I knew all that this verse had to say.  Oh how wrong I was.  Now let's fill in the highlights of the elaborate painting set before us shall we?

Jesus was born of a virgin.  He was raised as an apprentice to his father, a carpenter.  He then was baptized and called by his Father in heaven.  He went out and preached to the poor and hungry.  Healed the sick and the blind.  Fed His people both physically and spiritually.  Then the pharisees got upset, condemned him to death, and had him crucified.  A story that most are familiar with.  Now the hardest part of a painting, making the highlights match the background.

God makes alive, right?  So every time a child is born, it is only thanks to God for doing it.  Not allowing it, but Himself doing it.  Jesus was born of a virgin.  This is God's decision to come to earth Himself.  He birthed himself without sinning against himself (virgin birth), then God showed patience in His own creation by allowing Himself to grow up as an apprentice.  Now, it's important to notice that God is capable of being everywhere at once here, because if you don't understand all powerful, then you humanize Him and say that He can't be in the heavens taking care of the earth AND fully in human form because you couldn't do it, which is absurd.  So God is still fully in heaven and fully on earth.  Again, He practices patience with his own creation, then he speaks to himself in his own creation saying "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." Matthew 3:17.  So He is pleased with the way He has constructed His earthly body.  He is still a son on earth because He birthed himself through Mary.  If we think back, he was also pleased with our creation at one point.  That was when He made Adam.  Continuing, He exalts His bodily incarnation through the baptism and then humbles Himself immediately by sharing with the poor and needy.  No surprise what Jesus (God) does when "He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap."  It's nothing new!  God basically just gave himself another name and revealed Himself in human form while continuing to do what He has always done.  No wonder people were astonished when Jesus did things.  It's because they were witnessing God himself do things.

People say you have to see it to believe it.  Well, keeping Jesus' crucifiction in mind, most people still don't believe it when they see it.  How do we not see the things that are right in front of our faces:  And when we do see things, why do we question it beyond all reason?  What stupid sheep we are.  I'm glad God is my shepherd.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters.  He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.  Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalm 23

God's weird...

It's been an interesting week.  Started off with committing to reading God's word on a regular basis with one of the guys from Bible Study.  So glad for that friendship by the way.  Then went to church and talked to a few people.  One family that I was hoping to be staying with for the next month.  One person that I'm trying to meet up with.  Then a couple others from Bible Study.  Spent Monday AND Tuesday job searching and applying at ton's of places.  Monday started out with me checking on applications I'd turned in the prior week.  I ended up running out of gas in the middle of town.  Had someone from church (of all the people to be driving past) stop and help me get gas in my car.  Then finished checking on applications.  I then continued to submit many other applications in town.  Also found out I wasn't homeless later that day.  God really provided for me there.  Then Tuesday I checked on one application from the previous day and found out they had already hired people for all the open positions.  Moving on, I applied to several other places around.  Went to help my Bible Study leader pack up his moving van to get ready to leave for Florida.  Ended up getting food for the rest of the week from him.  Then God gave me a group of guys to chill with for the night.  Then Wednesday, I had company over, had a great conversation with the girlfriend, and made a late night dinner.  Thursday, wow.  What to say.  Got up early, read scripture, got online, moved out and moved into earlier mentioned family's house (aka the awesome Oates'), got an interview with Pennybacker's for tomorrow/today, went bowling, came back and hung with the awesome Oates', and now I can't sleep.

God is weird.  He gives and he takes.  I didn't go to a concert but gained a great conversation about God with the sig other, moved out and moved into new temp place, ran out of gas only to get a full tank, and God threw in a job interview for me after being essentially turned down at quite a few other places.  What a week for experiencing God's grace and seeing God's plans and timing revealed in a way that can only bring glory to him.  My lesson for the week might just be that living spontaneously with God in the lead is close to what it is to truly live to your full potential.  Now if I can just do that more often and figure out specifics of life.

P.S. The apostle Paul is awesome!  You should read about him.  :)

What To Do With The Time That Is Given To Us

After having a Lord of the Rings Extended Movie Marathon yesterday, I'm back to my average everyday life.  Not much is going on.  Just having lots and lots of time to think.  Right now I'm in the middle of some big decisions for what this year will look like for me.  The question I have to continually ask myself during these decisions is, "What do I want to do with the time that has been given to me?"  This being said, do I want to live a life that others will be happy with for me, a life where others may be confused but I will be content, or a life that is risky and full of excitement that will keep me alive for the rest of my life?  I would like to think that I'd take the life that will let me truly live and be alive for all of my days here on earth.  But right now, I must discern which decision will take me down that path.  As the Lord showed Paul and Silas the way to Macedonia, I pray that he shows me the path that my life shall pursue.

Enjoy the Little Things

So yesterday was fun.  Got up and went to run errands around the burg.  Ended up having lunch with Rebekah at Clementine's.  That was delicious.  Went to Camp Highroad in the evening with Rebekah.  She went to visit with friends and such.  It turned into something that I wasn't expecting.  Seeing the kids worshiping with no shame, no regards to what anyone else thought, and not holding back anything at all.  It shows how simple faith can be.  How simple it used to be even.  Oh how much of life we miss because we're uncertain about what God is doing with us.  Jesus doesn't say, "Let me tell you what I'm gonna do with your life and then decide if you want to follow me or not."  Jesus simply says, "Follow me."  That can be interpreted as trust me and follow me.  Trust me with all of your concerns.  Trust me to be big enough and strong enough to handle the problems in your life.  All you have to do is follow me.  How hard of a request is that really?  How hard do we make that though.  Oh how we make things so much  more difficult.

This morning was great too.  Living the good life.  Eating breakfast only to find the eggs aren't fully cooked.  Definitely the thought that counts here.  :)  Have to enjoy the little things.

The Beginning to a Long Journey

One thing I've questioned myself about over the past few years is whether or not I'm actually living my life for myself and for God, or if I'm living my life just to please other people.  I have been a "people pleaser" in my past but have slowly worked myself away from that, though I still fall into it again sometimes.  The thing now that I continue to ponder is what it actually means to truly live.  To live a life that God has intended without the added distractions of the world.  To live a life where your true potential is fully revealed.  This is the quest that I now pursue.  Over the coming weeks and months, I hope to share some of the thoughts and revelations that I have about these topics and I am intrigued about what comments I'll receive in response.

For now, I have no idea what life means or what I am to do in my future.  I know that God exists, he loves us, he died for us, and he's still with us, in us, and among us.  This is what is important in life and I hope to learn more about what it looks like to truly live to the fullest instead of letting life just pass by.

Jp

P.S. Check out the Poll to the right of this post.  :)